My Side of the Mountain (Puffin Modern Classics) (original 1959; edition 2004)

This book follows the struggles of a young boy named Sam Gribley who decides to run away to his great-grandfather’s abandoned farms in the mountains to live in the wilderness. With the help of a man named Bill who shows him how to build a fire and the local public library, Sam learns how to survive in the wilderness. He has to brave blizzards, build a home, find a way to catch food, and learns to work with a falcon. Soon he learns to balance his life with self-survival and the importance of time with those he loves. ( )

Everyone who ever wanted to run away as a kid needs to read this book. ( )

Delightful, if unlikely, story of a teenager who runs off to live on his grandfather's land in the Catskills. Surviving in the wilderness is remarkably easy in this novel, as is training a falcon, and I wonder why Jean Craighead George made the main character a boy, but it was still a pleasure to spend a year in the woods with Sam and Frightful. ( )

This was a really interesting story about a young boy, Sam Gribley, who leaves his family's overcrowded New York City apartment, and runs away to the mountains. There he learns to live with the land and the animals to survive. And where he makes his home in the wilderness was very interesting. This was a story that had you believing in this boy and his ability to survive. But it also showed that sometimes a little human contact is also very needed. I am so glad my grandson gave me this book to read. ( )

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